Suspect freed in state drug lab scandal now arrested on murder charge

Authorities say a man freed from prison last year because of alleged mishandling of evidence in a state drug lab scandal has been charged with a fatal shooting in Brockton.

Twenty-two-year-old Donta Hood was arraigned Friday on murder and gun-related charges in the fatal shooting Tuesday of 45-year-old Charles Evans. Hood pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail.

Hood was convicted of dealing cocaine in 2009 at a trial in which former state lab chemist Annie Dookhan testified about evidence.

Dookhan has pleaded not guilty to fabricating drug test results and lying about her academic qualifications. Authorities have said she tested drug samples involving 34,000 defendants over nine years.

Dozens of defendants whose cases she handled have been freed pending new trials.